The Pegasus
by hanaalulu112
Summary: "Pegasus- (The flying Horse) symbolically represents the vitality and the strength of the horse, and with weightlessness flies like a bird. It symbolizes the indomitable poetic spirit overcoming the impediments of the world."- Animals, Birds, Insects and Their Meanings.
1. Prologue

**IMPORTANT Author's Note: **Hey! Welcome to The Pegasus! This story is going to be set when Olivia is entering her freshman year at Princeton. It is going to be Olitz, but not for a little while, so please bear with me. I don't want to give too much away, but there will be mentions of eating disorder, drug/alcohol abuse, self harm, and sexual content. I'm very excited about this story! This prologue just gives us some more background on Olivia and is an extension of a flashback from the show. Olivia, Abbey, Quinn, Harrison, Huck, and David are all going to be freshmen at Princeton, but Fitz is at Harvard Law, and that's why we aren't going to meet him automatically. But we will. And it will get interesting. Olitz is definitely a focus of this story but not the only focus. There will also be mentions of other couples and other themes. It's more a story about love than it is a story about Olitz. But please give it a try because I think it's going to be a fun ride and can't wait to write it when I have a minute during the craziness that is college! And please **review** so that I know people think it's interesting and want to read more!

**Prologue**

**Six Years Ago**

"Olivia, I have to tell you something," Eli Pope started. He wiped at his wet cheeks, ridding his face of the stringent tears as he faced his twelve year old daughter. How could he tell tell her something he knew would shatter her entire childhood?

"No," Liv whispered, looking over his shoulder at the report of a plane crash on the television. 329 dead. At the bottom of an ocean. Grand Atlantic flight to England. The plane somehow fell out of the sky off of the coast of Iceland. It couldn't be the flight her mother was on. Her mother had to be okay. Just because she hadn't called yet absolutely did not mean that she wasn't okay. Maybe she was just tired. Long flight. Or maybe they were still in the air.

"Olivia, please. Listen to me," he said, swallowing thickly. He thought he was ready to tell her, but the words he needed to say were fighting to stay buried; saying them would finally make them an iron-clad reality. "Your mother was on the flight that crash-"

"NO! NO, SHE WASN'T! SHE'S FINE. SHE'LL CALL AS SOON AS SHE CAN. THERE'S NO WAY SHE WAS ON THAT FLIGHT. SHE'S MY MOM. SHE PROMISED SHE'D COME HOME NEXT WEEK. SHE HAS TO BE FINE!" The young girl screamed, throwing her backpack across the room and running away from her father.

Eli Pope sighed to himself and sat back down on the couch, the tears still running down his face. What was he to do? His beloved wife was dead. His daughter was clearly in denial and would be absolutely devastated when she finally admitted the tragedy to herself.

Olivia slammed her bedroom door and locked it behind her. She flung herself onto her bed, her emotions running free and sobs beginning to escape, pouring down her cheeks like waterfalls, as she hugged her knees to her chest. No, no. Not me, she kept telling herself. Not my mother. Not her. But even Olivia knew it was true. She had seen the cop who knocked on their door upon arriving home from school. She had seen the look on her father's face when the cop left. She had seen him put the television on and plant himself in front of it, tears running down his face as he learned about the crash. She knew her mom was flying Grand Atlantic; it was all she had been talking about the past few days. Forget the business trip or her day off to see London or even the hotel room; Olivia's mother had been floored that the company was flying her first class on Grand Atlantic.

"They're the ones with the fancy televisions on the back of the seats! They even have WiFi!" Olivia could still hear her mother's voice in her head.

There was no way this was happening. She couldn't grow up without a mother. Who was going to help her when she finally got her period? Who was going to bring her to Victoria's Secret when she finally fit into their bras? Who was going to take care of her when her father was at work? She couldn't function without her mother. They had to be wrong.

But they weren't, and Olivia knew that. So she curled up in the fetal position and cried. She stayed there in her jeans and hoodie for the rest of the day, ignoring her father's feeble attempts at getting her to eat dinner. Eventually, she cried herself to sleep.

Eli got up and for the first time in ten years, he didn't get ready for work. Instead, he sat at the dining room table across from her empty seat and planned his wife's funeral. He emailed the few friends and family they had, and told them the funeral would be in two days- there was no sense in prolonging it.

Around noon he realized that Olivia hadn't come out of her room yet. Knocking on her door, he waited for a response; none came. When he opened it, she was lying on the corner of her bed in a fetal position, still wearing the jeans and hoodie from the day before. He almost thought she was asleep, before realizing that her eyes were open. She was staring blankly at the nothingness in front of her. "Olivia, come on. Get out of bed. I'll make you whatever you want for breakfast," Eli offered hopelessly. He had no idea how to deal with a mourning twelve year old; he needed his wife, she would know what to do. Olivia didn't reply.

He knelt beside her and tried to take her hand – tried to reassure her in the only way that he could - but she pulled away from him.

Not many things fazed Eli Pope; he was, after all, the commander of B613- the highly secret domestic terrorist elimination group. He had seen countless deaths, violent interrogations, and the tears of men he had broken…but standing in his daughter's bedroom, trying to look into her vacant brown orbs, he was scared.

Hating his weakness, Eli walked out of the room and closed the door. Resigned, he grabbed a bottle of wine from the cooler and gave up on trying to help Olivia.

"Olivia, come on. You have to get out of bed. At least take a shower and eat something. It's been two full days and you haven't gotten out of that bed except to go to the bathroom. Please, baby. For me?"

"Olivia, you need to eat. I don't even care if you shower. Let me spoon feed you. Anything. Talk to me, please. You need to talk to me. You need to eat. These are not optional."

"Olivia, I just lost your mother. I can't lose you too. You need to eat something. You have to be starving. You can't survive this many days without eating. You're terrifying me. I'm going to have to take you to the hospital if you don't eat something before tonight."

"Come on, Olivia, the funeral is today. I pulled out a dress and some shoes for you to wear. All you have to do is get up and put them on. And eat something. Please. You are going to regret it if you aren't at your mother's funeral."

Eli Pope had finally surrendered to physically getting Olivia ready himself. He picked up his daughter and took off her hoodie, tee shirt, jeans, and underwear. He turned on the shower and lifted her into it. She stood there, unresponsive, frozen, and just…empty. He washed her hair and even her body before turning the water off and handing her a towel. She just stood there staring into space, so he dried her off too, before dressing her in a black dress and black shoes that he'd found in her closet. He brushed her hair and her teeth and carried her over to the kitchen counter, where he tried once again to get her to eat. It had been three days since she'd last eaten, and the lack of energy had to be contributing to this emptiness.

He don't know how anyone could find the strength to get out of bed if they hadn't eaten in three days. The last thing Eli wanted was for his daughter to pass out in the middle of her mother's funeral, and he was debating whether to force to her eat before they left. He tried spoon feeding her once again, but her mouth wouldn't open.

What scared him the most, was that she was just a ghost of a child. She was unmoving and unresponsive. Her eyes were vacant; staring into space. She hadn't moved a muscle since he sat her down. She wouldn't open her mouth if he put a spoon in front of it and wouldn't swallow food even if he physically opened her mouth and placed it inside.

Checking the clock, Eli realized they were going to be late if they didn't leave soon. In that moment, he resigned himself to taking her the hospital afterwards; they'd give her fluids at least. There was no way she could keep going without eating.

The funeral was a blur, even for Eli. He had placed Olivia in a chair when they first got there, and unsurprisingly, she hadn't moved from it.

He vaguely remembered people coming up and sharing their condolences, but he couldn't remember who he had talked to.

He recalled the sound of music and the tears streaming down his daughter's face – the only sign of life she'd given him in the past three days.

He remembered going up to speak and feeling completely tongue tied. He had prepared a eulogy, but he couldn't bring himself to read it. He stood there at the podium and had finally said something about love and tragedy and pain and suffering, but there was not one sentence of it that he could recall.

He remembered saying goodbye for the final time.

He remembered the burial.

He remembered how blurry everything looked through his tears.

Most of all, he remembered the way Olivia didn't move unless he carried her.

After the burial, Eli drove straight toward the hospital. He couldn't let Olivia continue as she was. He glanced at her in his rear view mirror only to see that her eyes were closed.

He pressed harder on the gas pedal. She was okay. She had to be okay. She probably just fell asleep. He put the radio on as loud as it would go and tried to yell out her name. She didn't respond even as he drove sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety miles an hour to get to the hospital.

He sat in the waiting room.

Olivia had been taken into the ER an hour ago. They'd given her fluids and stuck a feeding tube in her. The doctors had all looked at him like he was some sort of child abuser, letting his daughter go so long without nourishment.

He cried again.

He cried for his dead wife.

Eventually, Olivia woke up. Eli went to her, took her hand in his and kissed her forehead. Even though she was awake, she remained unresponsive and the doctor insisted that she stay for observation. Eli fell asleep there, in some stiff, solitary folding chair in a solitary hospital room, clinging to his solitary daughter.

The next day Olivia spoke for the first time.

She had to go to the bathroom and needed to get up. A nurse helped her. The color in her face was restored. The doctor checked her vitals and insisted that she eat solid food before they released her.

"Olivia, I can't let you go home if you don't show me that you can eat by yourself, okay?" He had asked. A few hours later, Olivia had finally consumed a glass of water and some oatmeal.

"I'm concerned," the doctor admitted to Eli. "I know I said I'd let her go when she ate, but she had about two scoops of oatmeal and it's my understanding that she hasn't said more than one word since your wife passed. I'm very worried.

"I want to have her admitted for a few days. Get her eating regularly, keep checking her vitals. Have her speak to the psychologist. Because this seems to be a mental health case, I can't discharge her until she speaks to the psychologist, and she's certainly in no condition to do that.

"Now, Mr. Pope, there's a good chance Olivia will be okay in a few days. That she'll keep improving; that she'll go back to eating regularly and start talking again. But it may not come quickly. This could be a very long and very hard road for both of you. I just wanted to warn you of what might be ahead," he explained.

Eli nodded his head, taking in, but not completely believing the doctor's words. Olivia would be fine. She would keep eating. She would be back to normal in no time.

"Olivia, I think it would be best for you to go to a boarding school next year. Get away from this place, do something different, live a new life," Eli Pope explained.

There was no way he could keep fathering her 24/7. B-613 demanded his full attention, and even though only his wife had died, he had also lost his daughter. Since her first visit, Olivia had been hospitalized twice more.

The second time, she passed out during school. The third time, Eli couldn't get her to eat for 36 hours and brought her in himself to prevent another incident. He didn't know what was wrong with her. She was interacting with people again, but she was very distant still. She didn't talk about her mother, ever; not with anyone. She was beginning to live more and more, but he felt like he needed to watch over her all of the time just to see if she was eating or socializing, but he couldn't. The commander of B613 needed to be present, all his attention on the job, at all times. He wanted her to go to boarding school; there she would meet new friends, have people to watch over her all of the time, and she would have a different life - a better one. He truly thought it was the best option for both of them.

Olivia fought him on the idea all summer. She even threatened to stop eating again until he changed his mind.

The fourth time she was hospitalized, the doctor threatened to send her to the nearest treatment facility if it happened again. She was severely underweight. She was fasting for long periods of time. Not eating full meals. Her ribs and collar bones protruded. They weighed her at the hospital. 88 pounds. 5'2 inches.

"She's in the BMI range for anorexia. I'm going to suggest you admit her if she doesn't improve. She can't use this method to gain power over you. It's a control thing. Don't let it work. Don't give in to her."

So Eli Pope sent his daughter to boarding school. She was under the supervision of the social workers, the school psychologists, the counselors, and the nurses. They would be able to watch her. They would be able to make sure she gained weight and ate and talked and made more friends. She would be better off there. He couldn't do enough to help her anymore.

"I love you Olivia," Eli said to his daughter when he dropped her off at Saint Anne's in Virginia. She nodded, and let him hug her before he left. She didn't hug him back.

Olivia's life had flipped completely upside down when that plane crashed. She'd gone from a healthy, hilarious, loving twelve year old, to starving, vacant, and distant. But maybe boarding school would be good for her. Live a new life, meet new people, and have the attention that she needed from psychologists and nurses.

That's what Eli Pope had led himself to believe. He returned to DC and focused all of his energy on B613. Olivia's school sent monthly letters detailing her health progress, and she seemed to be doing slightly better. The real surprise came when he got her first report card. Straight A's. Comments were through the roof. All of her teachers suggested she take advanced courses the following semester. They called her intelligent, talented, hard working. "She has a work ethic like I've never seen," they'd say. These were bold statements coming from anyone, but these teachers weren't just anyone - they were teachers from one of the nations most presitgious private schools. Such fond remarks were unheard of. She was ranked first in her class of two hundred. Eli Pope rested easy after that. She was eating enough to stay out of the hospital and she seemed to be channeling her energy into school. There was nothing else he could've hoped for, given the circumstances.

So when Thanksgiving came, he was uneasy. He wanted her to stay at school. He didn't know how to handle Thanksgiving with only his daughter, much less with her eating disorder. It seemed understandable to him to ask that she stay there.

When Christmas came, he didn't want to spend more than the day with her. Of course he missed her, but she was happier at school. He didn't have the time that she needed and didn't want to implicate her by pretending that he did, so he visited her only on Christmas day. Other than his visit, Olivia stayed alone at the school while everyone else returned home to be with their families.

He hates me, the thirteen year old Olivia wrote in her journal. He won't even spend the holiday's with me. And I think he forgot my birthday. At least now I have friends and school and just...something. I don't need him. I don't need any family. I'm better off on my own. I'm independent.

**Author's Note: **If you want to see where Olivia is at when she gets to college and what happens when she meets a ton of new friends, then please **review!** Thank you so much! I hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into the past of my Olivia Pope!


	2. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **Hi! Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited, or followed this story! It made me very excited. I'm leaving for a retreat tomorrow that doesn't get back until next Friday, and we're not allowed to bring laptops (I may die of separation anxiety, but that's beside the point), so I'm uploading this chapter now. In the future I hope to update once a week or so. I'm currently in the search for a beta, so hopefully this story will be the best it can possibly be! Here is the first official chapter- now we are at the beginning of Olivia's freshman year at Princeton! Enjoy!

Chapter 1

Olivia sighed to herself as she punched in the code on the index card she'd been given: 3-4-2-2-3. The door unlocked and she pushed it open, bracing herself to be met with the faces of the strangers she would be living with for the next year. Much to her chagrin, the room was empty. When Olivia walked in, she saw a bed, a desk and a dresser to her left. She kept walking, taking a right turn, and saw the other two beds, dressers, and desks. She was actually surprised at the size of the room. When she saw that she had two roommates, she was expecting to walk in to a freshman double with a bunk bed and half a closet.

She dragged her first suitcase to the bed farthest away from the door and put it down. She exhaled and took a moment to really look around the room. She hoped to God that her roommates were nice. Or at least neat. And hygienic. Olivia walked back to the door, and as she was opening it, found herself face to face with another girl. Well, this certainly could not be more awkward.

"Oh, you must be my roommate! I'm Quinn!" The girl exclaimed. Olivia opened the door to let her by, slightly taken aback by how strongly the girl came on.

"Olivia," she replied, standing awkwardly in the doorway for a moment. Quinn had simply thrown her stuff down onto the first bed she saw; the one by the door.

"I'm actually gonna head out and grab the rest of my stuff-"

"- Oh, me too! Let's go together!" She exclaimed. Olivia nodded, secretly dreading the thought of having to spend an entire year in this girl's presence. Olivia had tried to walk in silence, but Quinn wasn't having it. She just seemed so...enthusiastic.

"I'm from Ohio. I really want to major in computer science, but my mom thinks that would be me giving away my femininity. Can you believe that? I can be a girl and like computers. She's so stuck up sometimes. Anyway, do you know if there's a video gaming club? I love to play video games. I don't know how I'm going to survive college without my Xbox. Do you play video games? Where are you from? What are you majoring in? I don't understand why they call them concentrations instead of majors. It's such an Ivy thing to do. Ugh. I don't even know why I agreed to come to some snotty Ivy League school. If it wasn't for my damn mother-"

"This is me. I'll see you back at the room," Olivia intervened, walking back over to her taxi and taking more of her stuff out.

"You took a taxi here?" Quinn asked, but Olivia ignored her. She could not believe this overly talkative girl was her roommate. How would she survive an entire year of this? She prayed silently that her other roommate was more normal. If not that, at least quiet. When Olivia walked back into the room with her next set of bags, she saw a beautiful, tall, skinny redhead unpacking her clothes.

"Hey!" The girl said, smiling widely at Olivia. "I'm Abbey."

"Olivia," Liv replied.

"This room is a lot bigger than I imagined it would be," Abbey continued.

"Yeah, same here. I was imagining the forced triple from hell when I saw I had two roommates."

"Have you met Quinn yet?" Abbey asked, folding a pair of shorts nonchalantly.

"Yes. Have you?" Olivia replied, trying to get a sense of what Abbey's first impression of her had been.

"No, not yet. How is she?" Abbey asked.

"Well, in the one minute walk from here to the cars she practically told me her entire life story," Olivia admitted.

"Damn. At least you seem pretty normal," Abbey stated. Olivia laughed, cracking a smile for the first time since she'd first entered Fisher 215.

"As do you," Liv replied as Quinn came bustling through the door again.

"Ooh, you must be Abbey! I'm Quinn! I'm from Ohio, and I want to major, or concentrate in computer-" Quinn started, only to be cut off by Olivia.

"Abbey was just telling me she's not feeling that well. I'm going to help her get her bed ready so she can take a nap, but I really wanted to introduce myself to the people across the hall. Would you mind going over and meeting them?" Olivia asked, feeling proud of herself for coming up with this elaborate scheme to ditch their strange roommate for another minute or two.

"That's a great idea, Olivia! I'll be back soon! And then we can all get to know each other!" Quinn exclaimed, before leaving the room again. Olivia sat down on her undressed bed and sighed.

"I'm sorry about that. I really just couldn't bear to hear the rant about her mother again." Abbey laughed, moving to take some stuff off of her equally undressed bed.

"No problem, but now you're obligated to help make up my bed," Abbey stated. Olivia chuckled once.

"Only if you help me make mine too."

"What kind of deal is that? I don't owe you a favor. You owe me a favor because you told our roommate who I haven't even really met yet, that I'm sick and want to take a nap. On move in day. She probably thinks I'm a total loser," Abbey explained. Olivia just shook her head.

"Nope. Trust me, I did you a favor, not the other way around. But, since I'm such a lovely roommate, I will help you make up your bed without the expectation of reciprocation." Abbey smiled.

"Thanks Olivia."

"Call me Liv."

"Thanks Liv."

"Okay, so here's the low down on the guys across the hall. Their names are Harrison, Huck, and David. Harrison is super smooth, Huck is hot but kind of weird, and David is sweet but way awkward. Anyway, they want to grab dinner and go to a party in 1981 with us tonight!" Quinn exclaimed upon re-entering the room. Olivia and Abbey, both still unpacking, turned to look at Quinn in bewilderment.

"1981? Does one of them have a time machine, or...?" Abbey replied, trailing off. Olivia smiled, happy that she was on the same wavelength as at least one of her roommates.

"No, silly. 1981 is another one of the dorms at Whitman. Upperclassmen live there and we're going there to party. What do you think?" Quinn proposed.

"I think I need to start unpacking my party clothes!," Abbey replied, causing the girls to laugh at her enthusiasm.

Olivia smiled to herself as she unzipped her second suitcase, feeling fortunate to have Abbey as a roommate. The girl had already made her laugh multiple times and luckily seemed very down to Earth.

"Abbeyyy," Olivia whined as she rifled through the newly stocked dresser drawers..

"Yes, whiney?" Abbey replied. Olivia shot her a playful glare over her shoulder.

"I don't have anything to wear."

"It's day one at school and you already have nothing to wear?" Abbey asked.

"No, I mean, well, of course I have something. But I don't have good party clothes."

"Define 'good party clothes'?" Quinn asked from across the room. "Because all I have is a slutty body con dress."

"That's perfect. Liv, you just need something clingy. Or revealing. Or something clingy and revealing," Abbey replied, "Are you seriously telling me you own nothing to fit this category? How did you make it eighteen years of your life without something you can go out in?"

Olivia shrugged, grabbing a few random pieces out of her drawer.

"I have a few crop tops and skirts but nothing all that sexy," Olivia admitted, pulling out all of her items that were even remotely revealing or clingy.

"No. Nope. None of those will cut it. What size do you wear? You can borrow some of my clothes," Abbey replied, grabbing a few random things out of her dresser and tossing them to Olivia.

Liv held up the black body con skirt and a low cut pink tank.

"You have better boobs than I do- the top should look good on you. I can't wear it to parties because no matter what bra I wear under it, I still look flat chested."

Olivia blushed and laughed once to herself as she picked up the items, pulling them on. Abbey was right; they did look good on her.

Liv pulled on a pair of heels she happened to have and added to her makeup, making her eyes more smoky and painting her full lips a bright pink to go with her top. She finally finished getting ready and listened as Abbey and Quinn debated over the shoes that Quinn would wear.

"Liv, what do you think? Black or silver? I think the black is better. The silver are kind of trashy, no offense," Abbey said. Liv turned around to face them, and Abbey's jaw dropped.

"Damn, girl! You look smokin'! Wow. And I was right about your boobs. Keep that top, it looks way better on you than it does on me," Abbey replied. Olivia blushed again and smiled. She logically thought that she should feel like Abbey's comment was awkward, I mean, she told a girl she'd just met that she had nice boobs! But at the same time, it was nice. Nice to be complemented by a girl who was not so bad looking herself.

"Thanks," was Olivia's only reply after her mental debate. "And Abbey's right, Quinn. Black heels."

Quinn nodded and put on the black heels, tossing the silver ones into her closet somewhere. The girls grabbed their bags and walked across the hall to knock on the guys' door. A fairly attractive African American man opened the door and smiled at Quinn.

"Hey Quinn! Are these your roommates?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm Abbey."

"Olivia."

"It's nice to meet you girls! I'm Harrison. Come on in, we're just trying to coax our roommate Huck into coming out with us," the man explained.

"Huck!" Quinn exclaimed, leading the way into the room. "You have to come out. It's the first night. Just come and meet some people. Please? For me?" She asked.

Olivia glanced at the third guy who looked...somewhat dorky and whose eyes were glued to Abbey. Not that Liv could really blame him. Huck was pretty attractive, even with his kind of grungy look.

Olivia turned her attention back to Harrison, as David had started making small talk with Abbey and Quinn was still convincing Huck to get up and go out.

"So, Olivia," Harrison started, "tell me about yourself."

Olivia smiled at him,"I grew up in DC, I want to be a lawyer. I went to boarding school in Switzerland."

"No way! That's awesome. Switzerland? You're pretty cool, girl!" Harrison exclaimed in reply. Olivia laughed, she was definitely liking the people here already. Between Abbey and Harrison, Olivia knew in that moment that she wouldn't ever be alone at college.

The group of six (yes, they had indeed coaxed Huck into joining them - much to his dismay) sat around a table eating dinner. It was a bit awkward at first, so Harrison decided to take charge of the conversation.

"Let's get to know each other a little bit. Why don't we all go around and say where we're from, what we want to study, and, I don't know, a fun fact about ourselves," Harrison explained, looking across the table at Liv to pick it up from there.

"No. No fun fact," insisted Abbey and Harrison focused his attention on her. Liv laughed.

"How come?" He asked, slightly put out by Abbey's request.

"Because my fun fact always ends up being super lame. I'm not fun and therefore, have no fun facts worthy of your time. Why don't we say, like...where we want to live when we're older," Abbey compromised.

"Fine, okay. Liv, you start." Harrison replied.

"I'm from DC, studying Political Science, and I want to eventually retire to Vermont."

"Vermont? Why Vermont?" Harrison asked.

Liv shrugged, playing with the veggies on her plate.

"I don't know. I just have this vision where I fall in love and run away to Vermont to raise a family. I'll probably live in DC while I'm younger and working, but eventually I want a quiet life," Liv explained, feeling sort of embarrassed. Her weird Vermont thing wasn't something she'd ever shared with people before, let alone people she'd just met.

"That's really sweet," Abbey commented, causing Liv to smile shyly. "I'm majoring in Communications slash English, I haven't really decided yet. I'm from New York City and I plan to move back there when I'm done with school."

"I'm from Ohio, I want to major in Computer Science but I don't know if that's actually going to happen, but I'll spare you that story for now, and I dream about living in DC," explained Quinn.

Olivia was immediately grateful that Quinn had kept her speech short, since she already knew the girl could talk. The next person to go was Huck, who Liv found to be quite mysterious.

"I'm, um, from Philadelphia. I'm studying Computer Science and would really live anywhere."

"I'm from the lovely city of LA. I'm studying psychology and I'm pre law. I want to live in DC," stated David. Liv thought he resembled a puppy version of a man. His glasses were slightly crooked glasses and when paired with his plaid collared shirt, he appeared as much of a pushover as a puppy would be. Yet, she tried to refrain from judgement. Liv didn't usually judge people like this, but with meeting so many people at once, it seemed easier just to put everyone into little boxes.

"Damn, so many DC lovers. I'm from Miami, Florida. I'm Poly Sci and pre-law, planning on moving to DC eventually as well," explained Harrison.

After the introductions, conversation between the six seemed to flow pretty easily. They joked about how everyone seemed to be pre-law in their group and how pre-med was taking over the world elsewhere. They talked about DC and where they grew up and went to high school.

"Olivia here went to boarding school in Switzerland," Harrison stated. Everyone turned to her, but it was Abbey's eyes that she felt the most.

"No way. That's so cool! What boarding school? How come?" She asked, a rampant fire of questions.

"Surval Montreaux. My mom died when I was young and my father has a really demanding job. Surval accepted me and I knew I couldn't turn them down," Olivia replied.

"I'm sorry," Abbey said, touching Liv's arm lightly. Liv smiled sadly at her, glad for the comfort.

"It's okay. It's been six years." Six years of being alone, she thought.

"David totally has the hots for you!" Olivia whispered in Abbey's ear as they walked to 1981.

"Ugh, I know. He's looking at me like a dog would a bone," Abbey replied.

"You don't like him, I'm guessing?"

"It's not that I don't like him. He seems like a nice guy. He's just not my type," explained Abbey. They swiped into the building and Harrison led them to a suite on the third floor where some juniors were partying.

"Who do you know here?" The guy who answered the door asked Harrison. He looked like a basketball player; tall, dark hair, built but not too much. He was definitely attractive, but the loopy, drunk look in his eyes turned Liv off. Her father used to drink when she was young.

"Stephen," Harrison replied. Liv wondered to herself how Harrison knew anyone yet, let alone an upperclassmen, but decided against questioning it when tall, dark, and drunk let them into the party. There was beer, which was really not Liv's thing, and Bailey's and hot chocolate. She went for the latter while all of her friends grabbed beers and shot her curious looks. Ignoring them, she grabbed Abbey and together they went on the dancefloor to have a good time.

Liv's group of friends were proving to be a spectacle in 1981. Huck was off in some corner sipping beer and ignoring the presence of, well, everyone else. Harrison was making out with some blonde in the middle of the dance floor, his back mere inches from Liv. She was tempted to tell him to move his little party elsewhere, but didn't want to be a total cock block on the first day. Quinn was talking the ear off of David, whose eyes were scanning the room in search of someone to save him from the conversation. Abbey and Liv were dancing shamelessly to some techno-song, trying to ignore the fact that Harrison was groping some girl next to them.

"Hey, I'm going to find the bathroom, okay?" Liv whisper-shouted to Abbey over the music.

"Do you want me to come with?" Abbey asked. Liv shook her head and began pushing through the crowd. She walked around the suite, and couldn't seem to find a bathroom anywhere. In her search, she somehow ran into Huck in a corner and asked him if he knew where it was.

"Check down that hallway. I've seen a lot of people walk down there," he replied. She nodded, thanked him, and tried the hall. She saw a door to a room that looked like it could be a bathroom, but before she could knock, her body was being picked up into the air. She screamed momentarily, but a hand clutched her mouth, and she was pinned against the wall a moment later. Standing in front of her was tall, dark, and incredibly drunk. She squirmed and kicked to no avail. His hand was on her thigh. Under her skirt. Moving up.

Before she could process it, the man was on the ground, and Huck was in front of her, asking her if she was okay. The man's nose was bleeding and he was yelling profranities at them.

"Olivia, are you alright? I just heard a scream, and, oh gosh. Please tell me you're okay. Did anything happen?" Huck asked, panic evident on his face. Liv shook her head, bearing a weak smile.

"Thank you. It's fine. I'm okay, I promise," Liv replied, feeling grateful and disgusted at the same time.

"Let's go back to Fisher. Sound good?" Huck asked, taking her hand and guiding her out of the hall and into the main living space of the suite. Liv just nodded and followed him out the door, not bothering to say goodbye to anyone. She thought of texting Abbey to tell her that she'd left, but soon realized she didn't have her phone number.

"Huck, do you have Harrison or David's phone numbers? I don't want them to worry that we left."

"Yeah, I'll text David, his mom gave us his number before she left. Don't worry about it." Liv laughed at Huck's reply, wishing she'd gotten to meet David's mother. She sounded, well, interesting.

When they got back to Fisher, Huck followed Olivia into her dorm.

"You can go back to your room. I'm fine, I swear," Liv explained as she walked over to her bed.

"I'm not leaving until the others get back. You were assaulted. I'll turn around while you change. We can talk or you can sleep. Whatever you want, but I'm staying with you." Liv smiled at his kindness. He really didn't have to do that for her.

He turned around and she pulled off her heels and Abbey's skirt, throwing the item onto her roommate's bed. She put the tank top back in her own drawer, hoping that Abbey meant what she said about letting her keep it. Once she put her pajamas back on, she sat on her bed, motioning for Huck to sit across from her.

"I'm okay on the floor," Huck replied. She simply shook her head.

"No, no way. I'm not letting you sit on that dirty floor when there's a perfectly good half of a bed here," Liv explained. Huck gave in and sat across from her on her bed.

"Tell me about yourself," Liv suggested.

"Well, um. I'm an orphan. Both my parents died when I was young. Grew up with a bunch of different foster families in Philadelphia. I love math and science, and I survived English and History. Somehow I got into Princeton. Standardized tests, mostly. And I like to build computer programs in my spare time. I'm really not that interesting."

"You're certainly interesting. In terms of my parents, I feel like, when my mother died, my father did too. I went through a difficult time and I realized how completely incapable he is at parenting. He sent me to boarding school. I fought him on it for months and for the first year, I was at Saint Anne's in Virginia, but I really didn't like it. I thought I wanted to come home, until I realized over the summer that my father was working all the time and I was raising myself. It was lonely and it made me miss her more. So I went off to another boarding school, and I've barely been home a day since," Olivia explained, looking down at her hands in her lap while she spoke.

"My father was shot when I was seven. We lived in a not so good neighborhood, so it really wasn't that uncommon. My mom killed herself less than a year later. My father is from Mexico, and his family still lives there. They couldn't afford to take me in, either that or they really didn't want to. My mother didn't have any other family. They sent me to the orphanage. I barely remember them, but sometimes, I think it's better that way," Huck replied.

The two then went on to talk about what they did remember about their parents- their rules and their catch phrases, what they looked like and what they liked to wear. Olivia had shifted from a sitting position to being curled up under the covers, and eventually fell asleep while Huck was talking about the best restaurants in Phili. How they got onto that topic, neither of them had any idea. Huck quickly realized Liv had fallen asleep and eased off of her bed, careful not to wake her, and sat on the floor until Abbey and Quinn came back.

**Author's Note (again): **Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed getting to know the characters! What do you guys think of what happened to Olivia and how she is (or isn't) dealing with it? Do you like Quinn, or is she annoying you? How does Harrison know an upperclassman? Am I breaking cannon by having Abbey not like David, or is she just not admitting it? So, so many questions. Please tell me what you think in a **review!**


	3. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **Hi! I'm so sorry this took me so long! I was on a week long retreat without my laptop and then school started again. It's week one and I'm already dying. Please tell me what you think of this chapter- reviews are absolutely a motivator for me to put off reading 80 pages worth of articles for class!

So excited to announce that I have the most amazing beta ever helping me out with this story now! Her username is RandomPeson87 and I owe her a HUGE thanks for editing all of the other chapters for me and this one!

Also, since my beta helped me edit the prologue and first chapter, I re-uploaded them. Feel free to go back and see what changes were made, but it didn't change the meaning of anything!

Chapter 2

Liv shut off her alarm clock and groaned, rolling out of bed. She suddenly screamed when she ran into a body. She looked up and was met with the challenging eyes of her roommate Abbey.

"Gosh, Abbey, what are you doing?" She asked angrily. "Where the hell were you last night?"

"At the party, with you, now can you move so I can go to the bathroom?"

"Oh, like you did last night, when you didn't come back!?"

"Huck said he would text someone that we were leaving." Liv replied defensively.

"Someone," Abbey huffed. "Do you know who 'someone' was? DAVID. You don't even want to know what happened. Freaking David told me you went home with Huck! What the hell did you do last night? I mean, I have nothing against Huck or anything, but he was here, sitting on the floor looking at you like some creeper when I came in! It's the first day of school and you're already sleeping with our floor mates! Not to mention you left me alone to listen to DAVID talk all night!" Abbey exclaimed, completely throwing Liv off.

"Wait. First, I did not 'go home' with Huck. Something happened and I wanted to go back to the dorms and he said he would come with me. We talked and got to know each other better and then I went to sleep. That's all that happened."

"That still doesn't explain why he was here until three AM."

"He wanted to make sure I was alright. It was a rough night, okay? Let it go, I actually have to get ready, we have class today, if you haven't realized." Abbey lifted her eyebrows, not accepting Liv's explanation, but not wanting to push the girl given the fact that they just met yesterday and would be living together for the rest of the year.

Liv walked into Fundamentals of Political Science and was automatically taken aback by the size of the room. It was obviously a lecture hall, and Liv logically knew that intro classes would be big, but this room had to fit two or three hundred people. She began to worry that she would be that awkward freshman sitting alone in a corner, when suddenly, a waving hand caught her eye. It was Harrison, who was sitting next to David and waving her over. She smiled gratefully, took a breath, and walked towards them.

"Liv! I didn't know you were in this class!" Harrison exclaimed.

"I didn't know you were in this class either. Hey David," Liv replied, trying not to leave the poor guy out once again.

The professor, a middle aged man named Professor Beene entered the room and cleared his throat.

"Good morning, class. I'm Professor Beene, welcome to Fundamentals of Political Science. I've put the syllabus online- please take the time to print it out and refer to it for due dates. To give an overview, the midterm will be worth 25% of your grade, the term paper will be worth 25%, and the final exam will be worth 50%. If you have any questions about grading, ask your TA's. You should be receiving an email from one of them within the coming days. If you are going to slack off and online shop during class, don't bother coming, as it distracts everyone else. Okay, with that, let's get started."

The class went by in a blur; Liv had never tried to write that fast in her entire life. Her hand was cramping and she was cursing to herself when his lecture finally ended.

"You have to type your notes. There is no way you can write that fast," Harrison suggested, picking up on Olivia's disarray as they put their things back in their bags.

"I prefer to hand write my notes. I'm fine."

"Whatever you say."

"Are either of you going to lunch now? I'm starving," David asked.

"I have class in ten, but I'll see you guys later!" Harrison replied, and took off in the direction of another building.

"I'm free. Let's go," Olivia said. Even though lunch wasn't really on her radar yet, she figured she wouldn't miss out on the chance to get to know her floormate better, no matter what Abbey said about him.

"Liv?" David asked, in almost a whisper, as they walked into the dining hall.

"Yeah?"

"Did Abbey say anything about me this morning?" David asked, quietly.

"Umm," Liv started uneasily, not sure if she should tell him the truth or spare him the details. "I mean, she said she talked to you at the party and that you told her I had left," Liv explained. "Why?"

"Um, no reason, really. I was just wondering," he replied sheepishly, and Liv raised an eyebrow. They grabbed a table and some food, sitting down across from each other.

"Do you like Abbey?" Liv asked, not feeling like beating around the bush. She certainly couldn't help the situation if she she didn't know what was going on.

"What do you mean?" He asked. Liv sighed.

"Do you like her? Come on, I can't help you if I don't know what's going on with you two."

"I mean, yeah, of course I like her. But I really don't think she likes me," David explained.

"That's not necessarily true," Liv replied, picking at her salad.

"No, like, I don't think I'm her type."

"And I don't necessarily think that that's true. She might just be nervous, give her some time."

"Liv...I think she's a lesbian."

"Abbey? Really?" Liv asked, taken aback.

"I'm not just saying that because she isn't into me. I could tell when I watched her dancing. She looked at girls more than guys," David explained, but Liv wasn't buying it.

"I really don't think we should jump to conclusions like this. Let her be and if it's true, she'll tell us if she wants to."

"I just wanted to know if she likes me," David explained.

"Well, she didn't confirm her sexual identity to me, so I don't know. Anyway, I have class soon. See you later," Liv replied, slightly defensively, before getting up and throwing away her trash.

Well, that was weird.

The Next Day

Liv was hesitant as she stood outside of her advisor's office. Just knock, she told herself. You spoke to him over email, he seems nice, he knows you're coming. Even though he's your Poly Sci professor and you feel an enormous pressure to please him, just knock. It'll be okay. Do it.

Liv finally knocked on the door, and was met with a, "come in," from the other side. She took a deep breath before opening the door and walking towards the desk.

"You must be Olivia. I'm Professor Beene," he explained. Liv shook his hand and sat down across from him.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm actually in your Fundamentals of Political Science class," Liv explained, placing her backpack on the ground next to her.

"I was just looking at your schedule and saw that. I look forward to having you in class. I think your schedule looks good, maybe a little heavy on core requirement classes, but I understand wanting to get them out of the way. How do you feel about your classes so far?" Professor Beene asked.

"I'm a bit concerned about my French class. I went to high school in Switzerland, so I understand some French, but I think the level I was placed in might be more than I can handle. I know the higher I start, the less semesters of language I have to take, but I don't want to bomb a class during my first semester," Liv explained, glad to be able to express her concern about French.

"Okay. I'd say stick it out for a week or two, and if you still think it's too difficult, then consider about switching down to Intermediate," Professor Beene suggested. "Do you know what you want to major in? Here, I see Political Science?"

"Political Science, with a certificate in Values and Public Life. Oh, and Pre Law."

"Sounds like you have a plan. So tell me a little more about yourself. Are you from Switzerland, or did you go to boarding school?" Professor Beene asked.

Olivia sighed to herself, not wanting to tell her life story yet again, but smiled and proceeded to answer.

"I'm from the DC area. My mom passed away in a plane crash when I was twelve, so I decided to go to Saint Anne's in Virginia for a year and then to Surval Montreaux in Switzerland for high school," Liv explained.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. My father died when I was ten. Cancer. It's difficult. I can't imagine going to boarding school after that, though. That's incredible," Professor Beene replied.

Liv simply nodded, not really wanting to talk about her mother's death. She'd gotten used to telling the story, but the moment someone asked more about the time in her life, her walls would go up.

Luckily, the rest of the meeting with Professor Beene went well, and Liv was off to lunch with Harrison and Abbey. They sat down at "their table," in the cafeteria and starting talking about their days.

"David was hitting on me again. I swear, that kid...," Abbey groaned and Harrison laughed.

"He's like a little puppy following you around," Harrison added.

"Do you like him?" Liv asked casually, picking at a piece of salad.

"Do I... no! Of course not. He's just... not my type," Abbey explained.

Liv raised an eyebrow, not wanting to think that maybe David was right, but the way she said it made her think twice. Remember your own advice, Liv chided herself. If it's something you should know, you will know.

"I don't blame you. Kid looks fifteen," Harrison replied and Liv couldn't help but join in the laughter. He did have a point. Just because Abbey didn't like David didn't mean she didn't like men. Gosh.

"Well I met with my advisor today, so that was good. Professor Beene, actually, is my advisor. He's Harrison's and my Poly Sci professor," Liv explained.

"Yours was good? He's also my advisor, and he seemed like a total douche," Harrison stated, shoving a french fry into his mouth.

"Really? He was super nice. Asking me about my life and classes. I like him. What happened in your meeting?" Liv asked, intrigued.

"He told me my class choices were shit and that I was going to fail out of college."

"Okay, so, I've never met this guy, but I find that extremely hard to believe," Abbey interrupted. Liv laughed in agreement.

"Okay, maybe he wasn't that explicit. But he was picking on me for choosing to skip Elementary Spanish since I've never formally taken a Spanish class and gave me this whole spiel about not being too cocky," Harrison explained.

"Why on Earth would you skip Elementary Spanish if you've never taken Spanish?" Liv asked.

"Because I grew up in an area where a lot of people spoke Spanish. I figured I knew some of the language," Harrison explained.

"Did the placement test suggest you take Intermediate Spanish?" Abbey asked.

"No, but, still," Harrison replied, trying to redeem himself.

"No, but nothing. He's right. He just doesn't want you to fail. Swallow your pride and take elementary," Liv suggested. Harrison simply huffed and the subject changed once again.

"Black or silver heels?" Quinn asks, as they're getting ready for another party.

"Still black," Abbey calls, without even turning around.

"But you aren't even looking!" Quinn calls.

"If you really want to, wear the silver ones. I'm just telling you they're a little trashy."

"Oh, and that top isn't?" Quinn bit back.

"Hey, calm down girl. Point taken. Ask Liv," Abbey suggested.

"The silver ones aren't that bad. They kind of go with your outfit. Just wear them," Liv replied, not really caring about the situation one way or another. She was wearing Abbey's top again and a pair of low rise jeans. Abbey had fought her on the jeans, but she figured since the outfit showed off her stomach it would be fine.

"I can't believe you let her wear jeans," Quinn commented.

"Okay, first of all, Abbey does not control what I wear. And second, I just helped you out, so if you could please do the same!" Liv exclaimed. Abbey laughed and Quinn shut up, pulling on her strappy, and yes, trashy, silver heels.

"Abbey, you are not allowed to leave my side this entire night. Okay?" Liv clarified. She hadn't really wanted to go out tonight after what happened last time, but Harrison and Abbey had made her, and since she never told them what actually happened, she didn't really have an excuse.

"Oh, stop being such a baby. Go, meet someone, hook up, it's college. Get drunk, nobody cares," Abbey suggested, walking over to grab a glass of the punch. If there's anything Olivia Pope learned in her first eighteen years of life, it's to never drink the punch. Or really, anything that you get at a party from random strangers.

"I don't want to hook up with anyone. It's not my style. And I really don't want to get drunk."

"Liv, come on. You're obviously way too wound up for whatever reason. Have a drink. Just one, just try it, if you hate it, you don't have to finish it. Dance, let loose a little bit. You need it. You're going to explode if you don't let loose every once in a while," Abbey persuaded.

Liv finally gave in and let Abbey pour her a cup of punch, taking it and trying a sip.

"Oh, come on. You're never going to finish it if you sip it like it's pristine wine of some sort." Liv rolled her eyes, but took a larger gulp. The up side? It was definitely good punch. What was in it? Liv had no idea.

"Oh my gosh, I am so trashed right now!" Abbey exclaimed, swaying unevenly on the dance floor, red solo cup in hand.

"Believe it or not, I think I am too!" Liv replied. She usually didn't drink much; being the absolute control freak that she was, she didn't like feeling drunk and out of control. But, tonight, somehow (once Abbey had forced the first cup of punch into her hands) she hadn't been able to stop. In her defense, it didn't taste like it had a lot of alcohol in it, so Liv assumed it didn't and kept drinking it. Apparently, however, it did.

"It's the punch, but gosh, it's so good! Come on, let's dance!"

"We are dancing! What do you think we're doing on the dance floor?"

"Swaying around like a bunch of drunk idiots!"

"Well, we are a bunch of drunk idiots!"

Abbey and Liv continued to "dance" for a few more hours and after cutting each other off multiple times, were finally carried back (yes, literally carried) to the dorms by David and Harrison. Huck and Quinn had gone back to the dorms a few hours beforehand and when the guys finally dropped the girls into heaps on their beds, Quinn was fast asleep.

"Don't leave me here with her!" Liv called to Harrison when the guys moved to leave them.

"Liv hates me!" Abbey exclaimed.

"Guys, seriously, just go to sleep. You aren't that drunk, just stupid. I'll come to wake you up by noon," Harrison replied, clearly annoyed at the drunken display in front of him. Abbey and Liv simply pouted, trying to make their best drunken puppy dog faces, but Harrison left the room and David followed behind him.

"I have to pee," Abbey announced. "I'm going to the bathroom. Will you come with me?"

"No, you can go by yourself."

"But I forgot the bathroom code. PWEASE come!"

"Abbey, shhh, you're gonna wake Quinn up!" Liv exclaimed, giggling like a little school girl.

"Then come with me!"

"No!" Abbey finally went to the bathroom, without Liv in tow and Liv pulled off her heels and jeans, too out of it to figure out where her pajama pants were. When Abbey returned, Liv was sitting cross-legged and pantless on her bed, staring off into space.

"We're fighting," Abbey announced when she closed the door and walked towards their side of the room.

"No, we're not, you're drunk," Liv replied.

"So are you." Abbey walked towards Liv, sliding onto her bed with her, putting a hand next to her leg.

"Did I ever tell you that I'm a lesbian?" Abbey added. Liv laughed, drunken stupor not, completely understanding the situation.

"I was almost sexually assaulted last night."

"I'm serious. Do you want to know how serious I am?" Abbey replied, inching even closer to Liv.

Liv knew that Abbey was telling her the truth, just like she knew that Abbey didn't believe her. Yet, somehow Liv couldn't voice any contradictions. Why did she agree to that punch again?

"Show me" Liv stated, still not conscious of her words. She wasn't completely sure if she was acting this way simply because she was drunk, or simply because she was curious about Abbey. Extremely curious.

When she thought about lesbians, she thought about bulky female rugby players with short hair and lots of piercings. She thought about Leslie Shay from Chicago Fire and she thought about the L Word. Of all things, she certainly didn't think about someone like Abbey.

Abbey moved closer to Liv on the bed, so that she was on her knees directly in front of the still cross-legged Liv. She picked up her hand and placed it on Liv's cheek, and slowly brought her face closer. Liv sucked in a breath, because, well, yes, she was drunk, but her roommate was about to kiss her and she was letting her and especially after what happened the night before, that was totally bizarre. When Abbey's lips finally touched Liv's, it was only for a moment, before she pulled away.

"Does that prove to you that I'm a lesbian?"

"That doesn't prove anything," Liv replied, trying to breathe evenly. "All that proves is that you're capable of grazing your lips against an extremely attractive woman, like myself, while drunk." Abbey laughed, and Liv raised an eyebrow.

"Okay then. What about if I did this?" Abbey asked, and pulled Olivia towards her more forcefully. They kissed deeply and harshly, Abbey opening Liv's mouth and their tongues connecting.

Abbey moved one of her hands to rest on Liv's bare thigh and brought the other one to play with the hem of her tank top and graze her stomach.

Liv didn't know what to do with her hands or her lips, slightly panicked, but went along with it because, well, she really didn't mind it.

Abbey pushed Liv down on the bed, so that she was laying on top of her and Liv wrapped her arms around Abbey's shoulders, running her fingers through her long locks. It felt weird - the long, silky hair, lack of facial rubble, and breasts pushed up against hers. But, she let Abbey slide a hand under her top to squeeze her breast, because, somehow, it didn't feel all that wrong.

When Quinn woke up the next morning and glanced across the room at Abbey's empty bed, she was concerned. So, being the caring, worrisome roommate that she was, the girl walked over to the other side of the room, and was met with a slightly terrifying image.

Abbey and Liv were both fast asleep on Liv's bed; their bodies entangled, each of them down to only their underwear as they laid above the covers.

Quinn weighed her options- she could try to wake them up, she could pretend to accidentally wake them up, she could wait around until they woke up themselves, or she could just ignore the entire situation altogether and pretend she never saw it.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Quinn walked over and opened it, not all that surprised to see Harrison on the other side.

"Are Abbey and Liv up yet? They were super drunk last night and I said I'd come check on them in the morning," Harrison explained.

"No, they're sleeping," Quinn replied, deciding whether or not to fill Harrison in on the situation.

"Oh. Can I come in? I want to wake them up, it's getting late."

"Actually, I can just wake them up. Don't worry about it. Thanks for coming by to check up on them, though," Quinn replied.

She'd decided that, since she didn't actually know what happened and the current image may cause Harrison to jump to some lofty conclusions, that she would handle the situation herself.

These girls owe me, huge, Quinn thought to herself.

She walked back over to their side of the room, and began by picking up the shoes and items of clothing that were scattered on the floor, and put them in one pile. While moving to throw the last pair of heels on the pile, she tripped over something, and grabbed the edge of the bed the girls were laying on, rousing Liv awake.

Liv and Quinn locked eyes as Quinn got up, and Liv's doubled in size as she looked around her.

"Oh, shit," Liv stated, and Abbey's eyes began to flutter open.


End file.
